Nine Years
by Noatak
Summary: Rodrick Heffley has been after the same girl- Emmalee Lennon or 'cal' as he likes to call her - for longer than he can remember okay, that's a lie. It's been nine years, 1 month, and 14 days exactly , but despite any of his attempts to 'swoon' and 'court' her, the answer is always 'No'. Well, good thing for Rodrick, 'No' was never something he accepted. RodrickOC
1. One

'This is it. This is the day,' thought a determined Rodrick Heffley. 'After 9 years, I'm going to ask Cal out, and she's going to say yes.' He stared at the girl a couple lockers down (26 to be exact. He had arranged for his locker to be close enough to hers so that he could easily bump into her in between classes, but not be too close that it would raise any suspicions. Rodrick Heffley had friends in very high places. Meaning, he knew the janitors would help him out when he snuck into the office to change the locker assignments). Everything was perfect, planned and thought through. He was going to walk up to her, confess his love, and she would swoon- maybe even faint like in those old movies.

'This is it. This is it!' He exhaled, cracked his knuckles, and starting making his way to the girl, an unusual hiccup in his step.

"Hey, Cal." He leaned against the locker next to hers, and made sure to speak in his best 'Yeah, I'm sexy' voice. "What's up." The brunette girl exhaled heavily from her nose and pursed her lips before turning to him, giving him a small smile.

"Rodrick, how many times do I have to tell you not call me that?"

"What should I call you then? _Emmalee_." He sputtered a forced laugh.

"Yeah, I mean, that is my name," She responded. " Even Em or Emma is fine seeing as those are the nicknames people _usually_ gravitate towards."

"Oh come on. We both know that Cal is SO much better."

"No. It's an idiotic nickname you made up when we were kids."

"You love it." He grinned.

"What do you want, Rodrick?" She frustratingly asked, sharply turning away from facing her locker to look at him.

"How was your summer." She stared at him for a moment, studying his face to see if he was really sincere.

"It was fine," She resumed organizing her books- taking some out and placing them in her backpack, taking some out of her back and putting them in their place.. "I worked a lot and then got a kid brother half way through June which I had to watch while my mom went right back to work."

"Your mom was pregnant?"

"Rodrick.. You saw her when she was like, 7 months pregnant." Rodrick gave her a puzzled look. He knew her mom was pregnant, but he liked to play with her. Liked to wind her up.

Cal nodded her, astounded by the boy in front her. "Yes, Roderick. She was pregnant, which explains how I have a little brother now." She spoke to him like he was slow. _Really _slow.

"Oh, see... I thought she had just gained a TON of weight." Cal frowned.

"You're such an asshole," she said, slamming her locker closed and walking away.

"Hey, hey, hey. Look I was just joking." He said, walking backwards in front of her with his hands up, fingers spread. Cal stopped and just looked at him. "I know she only ate ALL that food because she was preggo."

"Goodbye, Rodrick." She huffed, pressing passed him.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Just... stop for a second." Rodrick grabbed the girls arm.

"What, Rodrick. What do you want." Frustration and annoyance was written all over her face. He shuffled a bit, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His mouth contorted in a few awkward ways, trying to remember the words he so diligently practiced before.

"Willyougotothemovieswithme?" He asked in a rushed, awkward fashion. ".. or something." She chuckled.

"Of course.. first day back and this is already happening..." She said to herself. She sighed again looked at him blankly, eyes scanning his face again for a brief moment.

"No." And she continued walking passed him.

"What? Come on, it's just one movie!" He yelled behind her.

"I have a boyfriend." She said over her shoulder.

"I know you want to!" His voice rang over the chatter in the busy hallway and everything silenced. Cal turned to the boy and looked around awkwardly before stomping back to him.

"Don't you think- You can go on with yours lived now, thanks!" She yelled to the still frozen students in the hall. Life resumed right away. She sighed and continued. "Don't you think if I wanted to I would have said yes?" He shrugged. She didn't know how to reason with him. "Rodrick, doesn't it bug you that you've asked me out almost every week since we've known each other and I have always turn you down?" he shrugged again.

"No. I know you just like a good chase." He grinned.

"For eight years?"

"nine," He corrected.

"what?"

"Nine years."

"Oh, even better!" She snorted.

"So will you?"

"Will I what."

"Go out with me." Cal stood there, brow furrowed, confused. Frustrated.

"I have to get to homeroom." She started walking off in the now almost-deserted hallway.

"Let me walk you.." Rodrick offered. Cal turned around sharply.

"NO. Rodrick, no. You go to your homeroom and I'll go to mine. Okay? Bye." And she stomped off, leaving Rodrick in the hall way by himself.

* * *

R&R.

-Bea


	2. Two

Sorry for the wait! More to come soon (: Enjoy

* * *

"So, I heard that Rodrick asked you out. Again," teased a honey-haired girl as she set her lunch down on the table.

"Yeah, and Carson, your point?"

"I don't know, Emm. I'm just saying that he's kinda a freak." She giggled to herself. "Doesn't he know you're dating Craig now?"

"Yes, he knows. And he's not a freak. He's just..." She thought for a second. "determined... And you shouldn't be saying anything. I mean, you did used to like him." Her friend gasped, dropping her fork and quickly looking around to see if anyone had heard.

"Emmalee Lennon!" She squealed. "We promised that we would never speak of that again!" Emma laughed. "Stop that!" She lightly hit her friends arm. "It's not funny. That could really destroy my reputation, you know. You're lucky nobody heard you, or I would have never spoken to you again."

"Calm down, Car," she chuckled. "No one cares who you dated back in 4th grade."

"We didn't _date_. We held hands _once_.. And someone dared me to!"

"Doesn't mean you didn't want to," She sang. Carson glared and then sighed, picking up her fork from the table and polishing it with her napkin.

"I'm just saying that he should be more careful. It might be innocent fun, but I don't think Craig would like it."

"Like what?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that Roderick asked Emma out again." Carson answered nonchalantly, using her fork to put a single lettuce leaf into her mouth.

"Heffley? Jeez, that kid is such a creep, huh?" Craig turned to his girlfriend while unwrapping a huge meat sandwich he just removed from his backpack.

"He just doesn't know when to quit, is all." Emma explained.

"Well, he better learn soon. I might have to kick his ass if he tries to make a move on ya again, Lennon." He nudged his girlfriend playfully, grinning wide. Emma laughed, returning the smile.

"Oh, my! You would do that for me? My hero!" She exclaimed, placing the back of her hand on her forhead in a classic fainting position as she leaned back on Craig.

"You're such a freak, Len." He laughed, and then kissed her sweetly.

"Wow, you guys are so cute I might just vomit up my perfectly seasoned salad." Carson said in a sarcastic, unenthused voice.

"Sorry, Car," Emma said recovering from her laughter. "I know how much you hate PDA."

"It's not that I hate it. I just... Let's not do it while I'm eating, okay?" Craig and Emma grinned at each other and then continued with their meal and their conversation.

"So, what did you say?" Craig asked, not looking away from his sandwich.

"Say to what?" Emma responded.

"To Heffley. What did you say when he asked you out?"

"I said.. No?" She thought her response was obvious, but apparently not.

"You didn't tell him you had a boyfriend?" Emma looked at her boyfriend, rolling her eyes a tad.

"He _knows_ I have a boyfriend. He just doesn't care."

"Right. Of course. Man, poor kid. He needs to figure his life out or something." He shrugged. Finally, he popped the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and wiped his hands. "Well, I gotta go. I need to finish a quiz I missed in Lit."

"Okay, call me later, alright?"

"Yep," He answered curtly. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, and then the leaned in toward Emma but stopped, the two of them then staring at Carson.

"What?" She asked, confused. Emma coughed lightly and motioned at Craig with a small toss of her head. A second passed, the hint not registering in her mind until: "Oh! Right!" She said, looking down toward her salad, shading her eyes with her perfectly painted nails.

Craig quickly planted a kiss on his girlfriends lips, and then another, until finally smiling, and waving goodbye.

"By Carson," he called out in a sing-song tone. She waved goodbye with a single move wave of her hand, still shading her eyes a bit until he was completely gone.

"Thanks for the heads up. Another make out session and I'm sure I would have gagged."

"We've never _made out_ in front of you." Emma said defensively. Carson waved a hand as if to say 'yeah yeah, whatever, whatever'.

"It's all the same thing. Yadda Yadda Yadda." She peeked a look at her best friend, and grinned, chuckling slightly. "But seriously, you guys are so cute." Emma smiled wide, her face lighting up.

"Thanks. Yeah, I like him. More than any of the other guys I've dated. And I think he likes me a lot too."

"I'm sure he does," Her best friend replied. "But uh, hey. Lunch is almost over and I have to go fix my make up before next period. Come with?"

"Yeah sure," She nodded, both of them picking up their trays and throwing out their trash. "What's so important about next period?" Carson looked to Emma, lightly tossing her hair behind her shoulder and flashing a huge smile.

"I found out that Ryan Keyes is my class," She answered gleefully.

"Right. Ryan 'man-whore' Keyes. God, Car, I don't get what you see in that guy." Emma crumpled up her nose, her upper lip twisting a bit as well.

"He's not a man whore! He's a total sweetheart!"

"He's a total player, is what he is," she retorted. "He just acts nice to get into girls pants, and that's a fact."

Emma pushed the door open into the girls bathroom, holding it open for Carson behind her.

"Well, we'll see," Carson became, fixing her bubble gum pink lips gloss in the mirror. "Because he's going to ask me on a date. I know it." Emma grinned just as he bell sounded, signaling the end of lunch.

"I gotta go. I heard Penz is a nazi about being on time."

"Yeah, I got to go too," Carson agreed. "Gotta make sure I get a good seat next to _Mr. Keyes."_ She started down the hallway. "I'll text you if anything good happens!" She called over her shoulder, and disappeared into the crowd of students.

Emma quickly followed suit, parting the sea of kids as she walked to her class.

She sat down in a relatively neutral seat. Not far back, but not right in the front either. Sort of upper middle, making herself open to the possibility of sitting next to a number of annoying/ terrible/ gross classmates. She, however, placed her Chanel bag on the desk next to hers in the event that someone half decent walked in. In this case, she would smile wide and insist that she was saving _that_ seat for _that_ person.

She quickly searched through her bag, and pulled out her phone to find a a text from Carson of what seemed to be a creepy picture of the back of Ryan Keyes' back accompanied by the message 'OMG, he's looking soooo Hot!'.

Emma scanned her brain for an appropriate response to the text. She was neither fond of Ryan, nor did she think he was actually that good looking. Not compared to some of the other guys that she knew. But saying that to Carson would be insulting her taste, which Emma, of course, did not want to do. 'I'm sure he's thinking the same thing about you' was all she thought of to say.

"Well look who it is," came a voice. Emma didn't have to look up. She already knew who it was.

* * *

R&R please (:

-Bea


	3. Three

"I didn't know that the devil was taking classes here. Oh wait, no. It's just you, Roderick. How wonderful." She responded unamused, her voice thick with sarcasm. He grinned ear to ear, obviously enjoying how he could get under her skin.

"You mind?" He asked, pointing to her bag on the desk next to her, still grinning.

"I guess not," she sighed, reaching for the bag Roderick was handing to her before he got a response.

"So I thinking for that movie, either the new batman or spiderman." Emma raised an eyebrow at him, peering at him unamused by his attempts.

"_What_ movie, Roderick."

"Well see, that's what I'm asking you," He explained. "You know, it's always polite to let the lady choose. Except I don't want to see Brave or that stupid dance movie, so I'm giving you the choice of either Batman or spiderman." Roderick looked at her, a practiced gaze of naivety and innocence on his face. Emma frowned and turned to face the front of the class again.

"No, Roderick."

"Oh, fine! We can watch the movie with the pansy boys dancing if you really want! I don't think we'll be watching much of it anyways." He grinned a toothy grin, giving a small wink. Emma scrunched up her nose, disgusted, and shook her head.

"You're so ridiculous." Roderick smiled, letting his tongue peak out onto his bottom lip a bit as he leaned back in his chair.

"I just want to take you to a movie, Cal. Is that so wrong?" His innocent face had returned, and he was looking at Emma with big, puppy eyes.

"When I have a boyfriend, yes." He waved his hand, dismissing that fact.

"Boyfriend, smoyfriend. It's just a friendly event."

"Oh, and that 'I don't think we'll be watching much of the movie anyways' comment wasn't somehow suggestive?"

"I just meant that we'll be too busy making fun of the fact that we're the only two non-prepubescent tweens in the theatre. Jeez, Cal. Why do you gotta make everything into something it's not?" Emma shook her head once more, not enjoying the games he played.

"Whatever, Roderick," She huffed.

"Come on, Cally Bally. Pleeeease," He pouted and begged in an overdramatic fashion. "Remember that time when I saved you from that crazy chihuahua? You owe me."

"First of all, we were 8, and second, you were the one to let it off it's leash. Oh, and third, I only couldn't run away because I had a broken leg which, as you might remember, you gave to me, soo..." Emma reflected on the ridiculousness of the situation for a moment. She had known Roderick since they were kids- about 5 or 6. And ever since they met, he had been a jerk to her (although, looking back, the frog he snuck into her lunch box, and the constant hair pullings were probably some sick Roderick way of saying he liked her or something). Still, they managed to stay surprisingly close (mostly because they're parents were close, but...). Roderick was at almost every major event that happened to her, i.e. when she found out santa, the tooth fairy, AND the easter bunny weren't real (Roderick had ruined it for her), got her first kiss (it WASN'T him), her first period (really awkward), getting her license, when her dad died.. He was there.

It would seem that someone as present in her life as he was shouldn't make her surprised when thinking how 'close' they were. But, they hung out in different circles, they almost never had the same class, and he was never _actually_ that nice to her. Still, they had history, and it occurred to her that no matter what, Roderick Huffley would always stay _something _to her. Even if it was the boy who asked her out for 9 years.

"Wow, hold a grudge much?" He scoffed.

"It's not a grudge. I just don't want to go to the movies with you." Emma slammed her notebook on her desk a little too forcefully and stared forward at the board, finished with the conversation. She could see Roderick still looking at her, probably trying to think of some way to coax her into going out with him, which wouldn't happen. Ever.

He stayed staring at her, eyes intense, shifting back and forth in thought until finally, he grinned wide and sat back in seat, slouching all the way down and crossing his feet, his hands taking a place behind his head.

Emma frowned, suspiciously peaking at him from the corner of her eyes, not knowing why he seemed so pleased with himself.

"_what?" _she spat, but Roderick just shrugged, still grinning.

"Nothing," he answered as if he had no idea she was talking about. "I was just thinking about how I wouldn't bug you anymore if you just indulged me _once_ and went to an innocent movie with me. But no worries! I guess I'll just have to continue being determined and ask you everyday." He shrugged once more as if to say 'oh well!' and looked towards the front of the class.

Emma felt a tiny, winding ball of rage grow inside her. She didn't want to go to the movies with Roderick, but she certainly didn't want to go through the rest of high school (and possibly her life) being bothered by him. She clenched her fist tight until her knuckles turned white. She quickly turned to him, a deep furrow on her forehead.

"Fine," she said dangerously low through gritted teeth. "_one_ movie, and I do mean only one." She was feeling fortunate that there were only a couple people in the class early- a dark haired boy with his head down on the desk, headphones blaring; a girl with glasses who occasionally peered over passed the book she was reading; and a boy, who Emma recognized as a teammate of Craigs, texting, not paying any attention.

"But I swear, If you even _mention _a date to me-"

"I know, I know, you'll get Connors to decapitate me, yadda yadda yadda. I know." Emma looked him up at down, frowning, knowing she couldn't _actually_ know if he would keep to his word, but it was worth a try.

" Thursday. 7pm. Spiderman. Don't be late." As per usual, Roderick grinned a toothy grin, pleased with himself.

"I wouldn't even think of it."

* * *

Another Chapter for ya (:

Enjoy!

-Bea


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